QUETTA, Sept 12: Thousands of people are still marooned in various areas of flood-affected districts of Nasirabad and Jaffarabad as flash floods and hill torrents are playing havoc.

Sources said at least 41 bodies had been found during a rescue operation launched by the army, Frontier Corps and the provincial Disaster Management Authority in different areas of the two districts.

“Bodies of four missing personnel of the Frontier Corps and two other people were recovered from the Rabi Canal area,” official sources said. Two FC men are still missing.

However, the Provincial Secretary for Information Technology, Capt (retd) Akbar Durrani, who has been appointed as a focal person, confirmed 14 deaths but added that the toll could go up because several people were still missing in the flood-hit areas.

The situation in Nasirabad district has improved a little bit because the intensity of hill torrents coming from Dera Bugti and Marri hills has subsided after rain stopped in the region. “No more rains were reported in Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Dera Bugti and Marri areas during last 24 hours,” the sources said.

A breach in the left bank of Pat Feeder Canal in the RD-238 area could not be repaired and the floodwater, which had inundated many villages and washed away hundreds of mud houses, was still flowing downstream.

Reports from Jaffarabad suggested that torrents had flooded the Sim Canal and submerged a vast area.

The sources said that the irrigation authorities in Jacobabad had made three cuts at the bypass near Dera Allahyar to release flood pressure on the city.

However, after the cuts in the bypass the floodwater entered Jaffarabad district and was moving speedily towards Kirthar Canal and the Rojhan Jamali area.